A child protection order is not sought if there are other ways to protect the child, such as working actively with the family to resolve the problems that led to the significant harm or risk of harm, or connecting the family to a community support agency.

Short-term child protection orders include:

Directive order - directs a parent to do or refrain from doing something related to the child's protection, or directs a parent not to have contact or to have only supervised contact with the child. A directive order must not be for more than one year.

Supervision order - requires the chief executive (Director-General) to supervise the child's protection in relation to the matters stated in the order. A supervision order must not be for more than one year.

Custody or guardianship – a child protection order that grants custody or guardianship to the chief executive or custody to a relative of the child. Short-term custody or guardianship must not be for more than two years. A person who has custody of a child has the right and responsibility to attend to day-to-day matters only, including a child's daily care and making decisions about a child's daily care. They do not however have the power to make decisions about the long-term care, welfare and development of the child.

Why this topic is important

The first priority of the department is the safety of the child or young person who has come into contact with the child protection system.

Short-term child protection orders are a critical part of the child protection system. They provide the department with the authority to work with the family to reduce the risk of future harm with the aim of safely returning the child home.

Trends

Of the 9,838 children subject to child protection orders as at 30 June 2018, 3,688 were subject to short-term orders and 6,150 children were subject to long-term orders.

The number of children subject to short-term orders increased by 2.9 per cent from 3,585 as at June 2017 to 3,688 children as at 30 June 2018.

Over the past five years the number of children subject to short-term orders slightly decreased by 0.6 per cent from 3,711 to 3,688 as at 30 June 2018. Over the same period, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children subject to a short-term child protection order remained relatively stable with only a slight increase of 0.1 percent and a small decrease of 1.1 per cent respectively.